Dodgers Make a Trade for Pirates’ Tony Watson

Cesar Becerra

PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 14: Tony Watson

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone and the Dodgers were relatively quiet this year. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers traded for left-handed reliever Tony Watson from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tony Watson was not at the top of the list for the Dodgers but the club was able to get a left-handed reliever that they were searching for. Watson was their fallback after not being able to come to a deal for Zach Britton or Brad Hand.

The full details of the deal have yet to be released but all initial reports were that the Orioles were looking for a big haul in exchange for Zach Britton. A big reason why the Orioles were firm on their asking price for Britton was because he’s still under contract for next season.

Britton has proven to be a dominant closer when healthy but this season has only appeared in 19 games. Tony Watson is a decent fall back option to help balance out the bullpen.

Watson is 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA and 10 saves on the year. He’s appeared in 47 games with the Pirates and is a free agent after this season. What’s concerning about Watson is that he not so dominant.

Watson has a modest 6.75 K/9 innings and has a high home run rate at 1.35/9. His splits aren’t as dominant as you would like to see from a lefty at the back of the bullpen. Watson allows left-handed hitters to hit .303 and has only faced 71 hitters from the left side of the plate. He’s by no means a lefty specialist.

Next: Zach Britton Rumors

This wouldn’t be the first time Andrew Friedman made these low under the radar moves so we’ll have to see how this trade pans out.

Cesar Becerra

Cesar recently received a BA in Literary Journalism from the University of California, Irvine. Cesar is a Los Angeles native and currently employed with UC Irvine where he works with a center that assists first generation, minority, and low-income students achieve higher education. Cesar has a strong passion for Dodger baseball and is gratified to be able to hear the greatness of Vin Scully and Chick Hearn. Cesar has been publicized in the New University newspaper, ClutchPoints, Hypun, Dodgers Nation, Dodgers Way, and now Call to the Pen.